Tomorrow is Melting Mann. I won't be there, as I never actually planned to be there. I am thankful, because in typical fashion....its going to rain and temps are dropping. Seems like this event is very cool, but the weather just tries to make it bad. Over the years I have seen a very mixed bag of conditions. Kinda like Iceman. lol. Never know until race day what its going to be. At any rate, Good luck friends!
My first event is 2 weeks from tomorrow. Before I get into that I will touch on my week. Last week I didn't feel the greatest on the bike. I had that week off in Germany and caught a little bug when I got back. The fitness I had dropped back a few weeks and it was a struggle to ride for an hour. That is slowly getting better. This past week I rode 3 days in a row OUTSIDE. Yes, finally balled up and headed out.
Tuesday wasn't terrible. Close to 50 degrees with a little wind. I did a solid loop that I used to ride a lot in previous years. Tried to stay away from gravel due to the rain/snow drama we had over the weekend.
Wednesday I geared up again with temps in the high 40's. I got all geared up and ready to roll when I noticed some sprinkles on the car. More of a mist really. ugh. Not supposed to rain for a few hours and the mist won't kill me. But the mist was a bit heavier than I thought it would be. 5 miles in I was feeling the water thru my tights. ugh. But I just pressed on. I was already out there and had at least 5 miles to get back home. I slogged along and eventually made it home. Short ride, but better than the trainer.
Thursday was a bit cooler with temps hovering in low to mid 40's. But the wind was bit stiffer. After the previous 2 days my legs were kind of not the best the first few miles. They eventually felt better and I was trying to push a bit to keep my speed up. I would go from 18 down to 13 when the wind would blow. Terrible...lol. Another solid ride.
But....my mind tanked after I was done. I know I have a 50 miler two weeks from tomorrow. While I know I can ride that distance, the duration is my bigger concern. I have only done 1 long ride this year and it was on the trainer. I will likely have a long trainer ride tomorrow and can hopefully get outside for a longer road ride on Sunday. Then a few days with a mixed bag of weather might mean back on the trainer. You might say "yeah but you have that whole next week too"....and here is another wrench. We are taking a family spring break down to Myrtle Beach. I am waffling between taking the road bike, cross bike, or the fat bike to do some beach riding. Yeah, warmer temps look great for riding....but there is a decent chance of rain almost every day that week. I understand its still a week out, but I can't go another full week without riding right before a race. Taper yes. Stop no. Decisions decisions.
So two weeks from tomorrow is the Dirty 30. I am signed up for the Filthy 50 and I think I will be ok to finish, might just take me a minute. Like the banners might be coming down before I finish. lol. The bigger concern is the Barry Roubaix the following weekend. Not 36 miles of hills, but 62 miles of hills with 26 miles of a course I have no clue what to expect. The Dirty 30 doesn't make me nervous, but the Longer Barry definitely does. I will have to see how the Dirty 30 goes before I make a final decision on distance for Barry. Signed up for 62, but if I struggle with 50 I might have to drop down. The 62 has roughly 4500 feet of climbing too....so that is another factor. Actually has less feet of climbing per mile than the 36....but....you know. lol.
Here is a breakdown (numbers are averages pulled from strava courses:
Dirty 30 (Filthy 50) is 50 miles. 46.1 feet of climbing per mile.
Barry Roubaix (Thriller) is 36 miles. 74.9 feet of climbing per mile.
Barry Roubaix (Killer) is 62 miles. 72.5 feet of climbing per mile.
In the grand scheme of my racing, its about finishing. I just don't want to finish in the dark ;)
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